" On the Sunday following Christmas Day it
has been customary to place near the door a
chair covered with a cloth, on the chair being
an orange hi a plate. This curious custom at the
Savoy has never been explained." ' Curiosities
of London,' new ed., Virtue & Co., 1885, p. 144.

It is needless to say that the custom has
long fallen into abeyance, and that no one
living remembers it. After many inquiries
I have failed to come across any one who
can throw any light on the subject. I have,
therefore, been driven to formulate a theory
for myself.

My idea is that it has reference to Nell
Gwyn. She was an " orange girl," a
regular prof ession inPepys's time, as he tells
us in his diary. As the favourite of Charles II.,
no doubt she attended the Savoy Chapel.
She died in November, 1687, in her thirty-
eighth year.

Her will (of which a copy may be seen)
is dated 9 July, 1687, and is signed E. G.
It was proved in Doctors' Commons on
7 December of the same year. I am con-
cerned with only two clauses of the will,
numbered in the original draft 4 and 12.

" 4. I desire that he [i.e. her son, the Duke of
St. Albans] would give one hundred pounds for
the use of the poor of St. Martin's, and St. James',
Westminster, to be given into the hands of Dr.
Tenison to be disposed of at his discretion for
taking any poor debtors of the said parish out
of prison, and for clothes this winter, and other
necessaries, as he shall find most fit."

" 12. That his Grace would please lo lay out
201. yearly for the releasing of poor debtors out
of prison every Christmas Day."

There is no mention of the Savoy, but
it seems not unlikely that

1. Either she left a further sum in this
quarter.

2. Or that Dr. Tenison should have appor-
tioned a part to the Savoy, which contained
a prison, and was a special "sanctuary" for
the poor and the oppressed.

In a report on the Poultry Conrpter in
1811 it is mentioned that the prisoners
received 65 penny loaves every eight weeks,
the gift of Eleanor Gwynne.

If my supposition is correct, this charity
in money or bread might well be distributed
at the Savoy Chapel on the first Sunday
after Christmas, if there was no service
there on Christmas Day.

On that day a chair (perhaps the very one
used by Nell herself) would be draped in
black, and an orange placed upon it to
signify her lowly origin, of which, be it

remembered, she was never 'ashamed. Thus*,
the recipients of her charity would be
reminded every Christmastide of the
humbly born benefactress who filled so high,
a place at Court.

The custom had therefore no Italian
significance, except that the orange, which
was brought to Italy and Provence in the
twelfth century by returning pilgrims and
Crusaders, and introduced to England in
the fifteenth century by Italian (Genoese)
merchants, serves to remind us of the
Italian origin of our English Savoy.

Maitland (Frederic William), LL.D. B. 28 May
1850 ; d. 22 Dec., 1906. Cambridge Professor of
English Law from 1888. Author of ' Gloucester
Pleas,' 1884, and several other works. Co-author
of ' History of English Law,' 1895.

Mearne (Samuel), d. 1684 (?). Bookbinder and
Bookseller to King Charles II. Famous for his-
bindings, many of which were floridly decorated in,
gold. Left behind him thirty thousand tracts con-
cerning matters of State. His widow Anne success-
fully petitioned Charles II. on 15 May, 1684, for
permission to sell them.

Meredith (William George), M.A. of Brasenose
Coll. Author of ' Memorials of Charles John r
King of Sweden and Norway,' 1829 ; ' History
of International Intercourse.'

Merridew (Henry), Coventry printer and
publisher. Proprietor of The Coventry Herald*
Founded the original Leamington Chronicle,
which ceased issue in 1842. In or about 1848
established a lending library at Boulogne-sur-
Mer.

Merridew (John), b. 1789 ; d. 1862. Conducted
bookselling and publishing at Coventry, Warwick,
and Leamington. Possessed exceptional know-
ledge of Warwickshire literature, and assisted
John Staunton to form his celebrated collection,
relating to that county. His publications had
permanent merit.

Merridew (Melville), son of Henry. D. 1879.
Successfully conducted the British library at
Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Merridew (Nathaniel), Coventry bookseller and
publisher. Chamberlain of that city 1800,
Sheriff 1809, and twice Mayor (1822-3). His sons.
John and Henry developed the book business.